TEN LITTLE HUNTERS
by UhhICanExplain
Summary: Ten little hunters all gathered to dine. Who will survive? The answers you'll find. Rated M for violence. [AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT] Interactive
1. TEASER: The Riddle

**This is a teaser for my second big project that I've been working on! Of course, this was heavily inspired by Rooster Teeth's very own Ten Little Roosters miniseries and I figured, it's the time when RWBY fans go crazy because we can't wait for Volume 3, and I thought it would to keep us on our toes to do a fun little whodunit! **

**EDIT: Since so many of you pointed out that "themself" is not a word, I have amended this.**

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><p><span><strong>TEN LITTLE HUNTERS<strong>

Ten little hunters all gathered to dine

One choked on a joke and then there were nine

Nine little hunters all took the bait

One died for their lover and then there were eight

Eight little hunters, a torch for the lemon

A light was snuffed out and then there were seven

Seven little hunters, three out of the mix

One sacrificed all and then there were six

Six little hunters, none yet to shrive

One ran from themselves and then there were five

Five little hunters, one behind a cage door

Curiosity killed the cat and then there were four

Four little hunters, one loved to make tea

One died like a god and then there were three

Left were three hunters

One's tables were spun

The killer cut down

And then there was one

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><p><strong>The Hunters:<strong>

Ruby – Weiss – Blake – Yang – Jaune – Nora – Pyrrha – Ren – Sun – Neptune

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><p><strong>The Weapons:<strong>

Crocea Mors

King Taijitu Venom

Fire Extinguisher

Hedge Shears

Myrtenaster

Blake's Bow

Juan Arc, Jaune's Mexican Cousin

Swordfish

Ruyi Bang & Jingu Bang

Ozpin's Cane

A Zombified Velvet

Rogue Weapons Locker

Penny

Foottraps

Ninjas of Love

Gambol Shroud

Professor Port's Grimm Cages

A Walking, Talking, _Dancing_ Grimm in a Top Hat

Skinning Machine

Drowning by Bathtub

A Room of Mirrors

Zwei the Dog

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><p><strong>A few orders of business here: this mystery covers not only the whole of RWBY lore, but also some references to other fanfics, mythology that the characters are based on, as well as one or two external references and wordplay because I'm a little bit cruel. Hehe.<strong>

**Second: beware the red herrings. You guys know that, right?**

**Third: I'm not quite working on this yet, as I still want to work a little more on Blake & Jaune's Infinite Playlist first, so it may be a bit before an actual chapter comes out. This is just to get you all worked up, because once again, I'm a heartless motherfucker.**

**Lastly: I think I will open up polls so that you guys can see how well your detective skills are after every chapter. I still don't know what I want to do for prizes, so just know that there will be prizes! (that, for the most part, don't involve me spending money, mind you)**

**SOOOOOOOO I guess I'll leave you to speculating. Happy sleuthing!**


	2. AND THEN THERE WERE NINE

**And here it is, at last! The first chapter of Ten Little Hunters is finally out. Get your detective caps ready, because after the chapter the sleuthing commences - the part where YOU come in! More will be explained at the end of the chapter, but how about I stop talking and let you get started on the case?**

**After all, you have _quite_ a lot of work to do.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: AND THEN THERE WERE NINE<strong>

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><p>It could have been a dark and stormy night. Maybe it wasn't. Point is, nobody fucking cares because that's super cliché and not part of the plot at all.<p>

The end of Team RWBY's first year had come, and not a moment too soon. Before they all went back home for the summer break, the team decided to kick back and celebrate what had come and what had gone. Most of the school had already departed, but the stragglers were making the best of their last day, and currently Team RWBY was lounging in Team JNPR's room along with all of Team JNPR and Sun and Neptune. Yang had whipped a bottle of champagne from out of thin air and poured a cup for some of the occupants. Pyrrha had declined and opted to make tea for herself and anyone else who wanted it, to which Sun, Ren, and Blake graciously accepted.

The scene was not quite one of absolute chaos, but considering that it was RWBY, JNPR, and half of SSSN all in one room, it was about as close as you could get to absolute chaos while still having not broken anything yet. Yang, Ruby, Jaune, and Nora surrounded a very loud and intense round of _Remnant: The Game_, with Yang and Jaune tied neck and neck for first, Ruby in fetal position as she watched her army get destroyed by yet _another_ Giant Nevermore card, and Nora just happy to be there.

At the kitchen table, Sun sighed contently as he leaned back in his chair. "This sight never gets old," he commented as he sipped at the steaming-hot tea from his mug. "Y'know, I never expected you to be a tea bag kinda guy, Ren."

Ren blew on his own mug. "It's more convenient. Dorm regulations don't leave much room for classic brewing."

"Suppose not," murmured Sun. "These still taste pretty good, honestly."

"They're a bit overdone for my taste," chimed Blake, adjacent to Sun. "This one's too tangy. Tea shouldn't taste like that."

"Bit of a hipster there, aren't ya?" Sun grinned at Blake.

"No, just well-cultured, you philistine."

"… For the record, I hate it when you call me that."

"Because you don't know what the word means?"

"No!... Yes… maybe?"

"Uh-huh."

Pyrrha chucked at the two. "Glad to see us all relaxing like this. It's been quite the long year," She turned to glance at the table of bickering board game players, namely Jaune. "Everyone's been a bit high-strung with exams and whatnot."

Sun resumed leaning back in his chair. "Yup! We're relaxed alright!" He heard a giggle from off to the side. "Some of us more than others."

They all turned towards the far corner of the room, where Weiss and Neptune were endlessly chatting and laughing with each other by the window, about what no one knew, as the pandemonium of the board game drowned them out. Weiss was swaying like a palm frond in the wind, and Neptune was doing his best to keep her from falling out of her seat.

"Is she… getting drunk… off champagne?" whispered Sun incredulously.

Ren shrugged. "It's not the most surprising thing in the world. She's not a particularly big person, by any stretch of the imagination."

Sun laughed. "I believe the word you're looking for is 'midget'."

"That's offensive, Sun," chided Blake, jabbing and elbow at Sun's ribs.

He grunted. "Yeah? Well, so is philistine!"

"You don't even know what it means."

"It sure _sounds_ offensive…" Sun scowled, before turning back to the pair by the window. "I'd sure like to know what her New Year's Eves are like, with that kind of alcohol tolerance."

He turned towards Pyrrha. "What do you think?"

Pyrrha cocked her head, confused. "About them? Well, I think they make quite the cute couple," she answered politely.

"No no no no," Sun waved his hands in front of him. "I meant when are you and Jaune getting together?"

Pyrrha's face immediately flushed red. "M-me and J-J-Jaune? W-well, what makes you say that?" she stammered.

Sun grinned. "I see how you look at that boy. Watching his every move, smiling at his every quirk. You fall head over heels for him every time he literally falls head over heels. And everyone knows it, too."

Pyrrha tried to sink back in her chair and make herself as small as possible. "He's my partner. I'm just looking out for him, as any good partner should!"

Sun took a large swig of his tea. "Nah, you're totally in love and it's super obvious, too!"

Pyrrha frowned. "I am _not_ super obvious. Besides, it's not that big of a deal. Nobody really wants to hear any of this, right? Right, Blake?" She glanced pleadingly at Blake for any help.

Blake sipped on her tea nonchalantly. "You're not the best at drawing attention away from yourself, considering your experience with fame, ironically. But…" she said with a smirk. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to hear what you have to say about you and Jaune."

Pyrrha blanched, and turned to her fellow teammate. "Ren? Am I…?" she trailed off, going to her last line of defense.

"Yes."

She slumped back in her chair – a rare posture for the champion – as her heart begin to sink, when suddenly (to Pyrrha's relief) an uproar from the other table drew everyone's attention.

"I WIN!" bellowed Yang, standing atop the table in a victorious pose. "Take that!" she yelled pointedly at Jaune, whose head was in his hands as he tried to make sense of his kingdom's shattering downfall.

"Nooooo…" he moaned.

"…ra?" chimed Nora happily, seemingly unaware that she had lost just as utterly.

Pyrrha instinctively rose out of her seat to go comfort the crestfallen Arc – and felt three pairs of eyes upon her. With an exasperated sigh, she turned to face Ren, Blake, and Sun. "It's not what you think."

Sun shrugged. "I'm pretty sure it's exactly what we think."

Pyrrha rolled her eyes and made her way over to Jaune, putting her hands on his shoulders and rubbing them.

The monkey faunus grinned and was about to share snarky remarks with Blake when the sound of clinking glass rang out over the room.

"Ahem… Well, now that this… _disaster_ is over…" Ruby glanced dolefully over at the disheveled game board before raising her glass. "Sisters! Friends! Wei-"

"Doooon't you daaaare," slurred Weiss, semiconsciously contributing from inside Neptune's arms. Neptune grinned sheepishly at the rest of the group.

"Uh, right!" Ruby cleared her throat. "It's been one heck of a year! From kicking terrorist butt to saving people from big scary Grimm, I'd say we're pretty accomplished for first years! Firstly, we all managed to pass those finals, so that's an accomplishment in itself! Congrats everybody."

A round of applause chorused in the room.

"Second, Pyrrha straight up destroyed competition in this year's Vytal Tournament with the giant trophy to prove it! A hand for our resident badass!" Woots and claps echoed as Pyrrha blushed and grinned humbly, reaching a hand to scratch the back of her head. Jaune squeezed her other hand proudly.

"And of course, a toast to some pretty cool new friends we made this year! Our favorite petty criminal friend Sun…" Ruby grinned at Sun, who rolled his eyes, "… who almost became our friend by just showing up all the time. And Neptune, who happened to be dragged along for the ride!" Ruby pointed in Weiss and Neptune's general direction, and he flashed a sparkling white grin.

"Although now that he's here," added Yang, gesturing towards Neptune and Weiss with a twinkle in her eye. "I guess you could say he got… frozen in place?"

A collective groan filled the room. Sun, who had been sipping his tea, choked at the abysmal punchline, and Blake rubbed his back as he erupted into a coughing fit.

Ruby facepalmed. "Thanks Yang… now with that out of the way, I just wanna say that I'm so glad to have met you all. I honestly don't know where I would be if I hadn't met you guys. Sheesh, I wasn't even thinking about making friends before Beacon, but now that I have, I wouldn't trade any of you for the world. You guys are the best. Cheers!"

A resounding "Cheers!" echoed amongst the ten hunters, and Yang grabbed Ruby in a crushing bear hug. "Awww, I'm so proud of my little sister!" said Yang as Ruby squirmed in her grasp.

"It's nothing," muttered Ruby, muffled in her sister's bosom. "Now would be a great time to let go-"

"Uh… guys?" blurted Jaune. "I hate to break up the city of sisterly love here, but I think something's wrong with Sun."

It was true. The monkey faunus had not stopped choking and his face was starting to turn blue. Suddenly, Sun fell out of his chair and crumpled on the floor.

"SUN!" yelled Blake and Neptune simultaneously. Blake immediately knelt by his side to aid him in any way she could while Neptune propped Weiss up against the chair before rushing over. The rest of the room had gone deathly quiet.

Slowly the choking ceased, but that wasn't the only thing. "He's not breathing," murmured Neptune, fingers on his teammate's neck as he tried to feel for a pulse.

Blake had abruptly stood back up and promptly grabbed Sun's almost empty tea mug to sniff at it. After a brief pause, she set the cup back down, the color drained from her face. "Almonds."

"Almonds…? Oh no…" Pyrrha's hand flew up to her mouth. She instantly grabbed her tea and sniffed it. "Mine doesn't smell like it. Blake? Ren? What about yours?" She inquired worriedly, and both responded in the negative.

Nora looked between the three, a confused look on her face. "Uh… what's so bad about almonds? I get that some people don't like them, but you must have some really big grudge against them to go as far as blaming almonds for some choking Sun out…"

"He was poisoned with cyanide," said Blake flatly.

"Oh."

Ruby stared wide-eyed at Sun's unmoving body. "Who would do such a thing?" she mumbled, still in shock.

"Maybe somebody misplaced the almonds and the cyanide?" offered Nora.

Blake examined the cup. "It would've had to be someone who could access chemicals like this with ease. Also, considering that Sun is a faunus, it may be someone with a faunus vendetta." Blake looked out of the corner of her eye at Weiss, who shot up clumsily, knocking her chair over.

"That's preposterous!" she slurred angrily. "Even if he's a bit of a rogue, I have absolutely no reason to kill him at all. Maybe you should be blaming the person who poured the cups!" All eyes turned to Pyrrha.

For once, Pyrrha looked indignant. "You can't be serious. Like Ruby said, I'm glad to have you all as friends, so don't you _dare_ assume that I would murder any of my closest allies. The nerve…"

"Okay!" Ruby reigned in everyone's attention. "We can't start throwing fingers at people. We have to do this the logical way. First off, we need to see if we can get Sun any help – if we're fast enough, he may be able to survive. Second, we need to let Ozpin know what the situation is. I say we split into our teams – we'll get Ozpin and you guys grab the nurses. Neptune, you can come with us. We'll take care of these things then meet in the commons. Make sure to grab your weapons as well. Are we good?"

A collective nod.

"Great. Let's go!" And with that, the teams exited the JNPR dorm room noiselessly and made their way through the eerily quiet halls of Beacon.

* * *

><p>About ten minutes later, the groups reconvened in the commons area.<p>

"You guys get Ozpin?" huffed Jaune as his team came to a halt.

Weiss narrowed her already barely open eyes. "Yup. He's right here," she slurred in mock cheerfulness, motioning exasperatedly to the empty space beside her.

Jaune winced. "I think I liked you better sober. Somehow you got meaner."

Ren looked past Weiss's seething sarcasm. "Figured as much. We couldn't find the nurses either."

"On that note, have you seen anybody else?" chimed Ruby. "It's as if they all just disappeared into thin air…"

Pyrrha nodded. "You're right. Ozpin would be the most likely to stay back here, but it concerns me that his post is empty."

"Do you think he forgot about us?" inquired Nora.

Pyrrha frown. "That doesn't seem like something the headmaster would do."

Nora shrugged. "I guess so. He's the old type, but not the forgetful type."

Blake's head drooped. "Dammit. We couldn't help Sun…" she sniffed bitterly.

Yang wrapped Blake comfortingly in a hug. "It's okay. It's not your fault, Blake."

A short, somber silence washed over the nine hunters as the impact of the situation weighed down on them. One of their own was dead, and there seemed to not be a single other soul in the whole of the academy.

Finally, Jaune broke the silence. "Weiss. Blake. Neptune. Where are your weapons?"

Blake and Weiss looked at each other. "We couldn't find them," confessed Weiss. "Our lockers were open when we got there. As if someone had stolen them."

"Sun and I left ours back at the place Sun and I were staying at," shrugged Neptune. "We didn't think we'd be needing them, although I guess we should've known better at this point."

"That's unfortunate," sighed Jaune. "So, what do we do now?"

"Why don't we try to get out of Beacon?" offered Ren. "Once we're out, we can probably be able to get someone to help us out, be it the authorities or whatnot."

"Good idea, Renny!" exclaimed Nora immediately. "I'm on board. Everyone?"

No one disagreed.

* * *

><p>However, when they reached the main door, they found it to be locked shut.<p>

"Dammit!" grumbled Yang, who attempted to punch the door open but to no avail.

"Oh no…" moaned Jaune. "What do we do _now_?"

"We could read this_._"

Blake had snatched a single leaf of paper that had been taped somewhat discreetly to the door. The others quickly gathered around her as she began to read the paper out loud.

"_Ten little hunters all gathered to dine, one choked on a joke and then there were nine._

_Nine little hunters all took the bait, one died for their lover and then there were eight._

_Eight little hunters, a torch for the lemon, a light was snuffed out and then there were seven._

_Seven little hunters, three out of the mix, one sacrificed all and then there were six._

_Six little hunters, none yet to shrive, one ran from themselves and then there were five._

_Five little hunters, one behind a cage door, curiosity killed the cat and then there were four._

_Four little hunters, one loved to make tea, one died like a god and then there were three._

_Left were three hunters, one's tables were spun._

_The killer cut down, and then there was one."_

The subsequent silence stretched on for what seemed like an eternity. Then Ren spoke what was all on their minds:

"The killer is among us."

And just like that, fingers began pointing.

"It was YOU, Weiss! You never liked Sun! Not to mention this killer's got a huge god complex, it has to be you with your overinflated ego!"

"Nonsense! He's still a rascal, but I don't hate him! And I do _not_ have an ego!"

"What about you, Neptune? He always dragged you places you didn't want to be!"

"H-hey! Don't point at _me_! Killing isn't cool! I can't stand for it. I stand for love. And now, I stand for justice!"

"… that's from a show, isn't it?"

"NO!... Yes…? Shut up, Jaune."

"And I thought the not being able to dance excuse was bad…"

"S-shut up! It's a _cool show_!"

"EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP!" thundered Yang, whose eyes flashed a deep red. "I can't fucking think when you're all shouting like Ursas with their heads cut off!"

The chaos stopped at once. After Yang had the chance to simmer down, she spoke with more composure. "Any ideas what we should do, people?"

"W-we should try to find the other exits!" cried Weiss. "I don't want to keep wandering around here while the killer is loose!"

"No," interjected Ren. "Since the killer is one of us, we have the best chance of finding him or her and stopping them as soon as possible. Once we leave the building, it'll give the killer a chance to get away."

"That's true!" chirped Nora. "There are nine… I mean, eight of us and only one of them. The odds are stacked in our favor!"

"Can we not take care of it for once?" groaned Jaune.

"I'd have to agree with Jaune," added Pyrrha. "As capable as we are as Hunters and Huntresses in-training, we're still only first years. This is a very prepared killer we're dealing with, and it's one of our own, so he or she knows us better than most. We should leave this to the people who are more qualified to take this job."

"That's exactly what I meant…" muttered Jaune under his breath.

Yang sighed and turned to her little sister. "Ruby, do you any idea what we should do?"

"Why me?" whined Ruby.

"Because you're good at coming up with what to do. You're our leader, after all."

Ruby took a deep breath and began. "Well, if we decide to stay here, then our best bet is to stick together, because at least then, we'll never lose sight of the killer, whoever they may be. Second, we should actually try to figure out these riddles. Does the killer have a concise plan of who they're going to target next, and can we find out quick enough to save the next person? Finally, keep your weapons drawn and your eyes open for any clues or traps the killer may have set down. Maybe then with context clues we can find out who the killer is before he or she can do any…" Ruby gulped. "… any _more_ damage. Everyone good with that plan?"

"Yeah!"

"It sounds like a solid strategy."

"Gonna go catch us a killer and beat their ass!"

Ruby allowed herself a shaky smile. "Alright then. Let's-"

Suddenly it was dark. Confusion and panic ensued as Ruby struggled to find a light amidst the screams and flailing of arms, legs, and metal. When she finally reached what felt like a light switch, Ruby flicked it up, and light once again illuminated the hall and her teammates.

Except that they weren't there.

Ruby blinked.

She frantically searched the spot where they had just been standing. Glanced up, down, left, right – nothing. Not a single trace of their existence remained.

"So much for the plan," muttered Ruby, and she shivered as a chill crawled up her spine.

* * *

><p><em><strong>One choked on a joke and then there were nine.<strong>_

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><p><strong>HERE'S WHERE YOU COME IN!<strong>

**Now would usually be the part where I ask you for and criticisms you might have (they're always welcome, of course), but tonight we have a task of far greater importance to attend to. This is the part where YOU become the detective and try to solve the mystery!**

**On my profile page, there will be a link for you to complete a survey where you try to guess who get's killed next and how they are killed. This week, however, you have to try to find the killer and the survivor as well. THIS WEEK WILL BE YOUR ONLY CHANCE TO FIND THOSE TWO, so take a good long look at the riddles and weapons before submitting. **

**A few points to go over:**

**1. This mystery uses everything as clues, from RWBY lore, to other popular fanfics, to mythology that the characters are based on, to even some external references that you may get from finding some of those hidden Easter eggs in the story. Use all of these to your advantage.**

**2. RED HERRINGS EXIST. If the clues just seem way too simple, then it's probably not the right one. Just like the killer doesn't come forward to say "I did it," the clues will not just blatantly say who dies next. Make your judgement calls at your own risk.**

**3. For every couplet, the first line is insignificant. The second line of each pair is what you should worry about.**

**4. ****You will have up until Tuesday 7:30PM Central Time to submit your guesses; past then they will NOT be accepted.**

**5. And of course, PRIZES! (that's what you're here for, right?) Every week, a random winning guess will be picked to win a prize - I will write a one-shot prompt of your choice in the realm of RWBY! ... Yeah, I guess I could've had better prizes, but I'm a broke college kid, so I make do with what I got. (DISCLAIMER: I do not do smut.)**

**However, the person who makes the most correct guesses over the span of the entire mystery will win a grand prize! I'm not quite sure what it will be, but I think at this point, it's a few posters that I've made in the past for RT that never got taken or maybe a game on Steam. So even if you didn't get this weeks guesses right, just keep doing the surveys every week and you could win something that's actually substantial and costs me money!**

**6. Lastly, YOU MUST HAVE A REDDIT OR FANFICTION USERNAME TO BE PICKED FOR A PRIZE.**

**Whew. That's quite an amount to read. Glad that's done.**

**Ready to tackle the case? Take the survey on my page!**

**Happy hunting!**


	3. Notice Pt 1 & 2

_**NOTICE PART 1**_

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><p><strong>Hello everyone.<strong>

**As you may have heard, the beloved creator of the RWBY series, Monty Oum, has passed away.**

**A man who had much to contribute to the world, he worked tirelessly to give us content that we all came to love in our own regard. Which, of course, is why we all are here, reading and writing RWBY fanfiction. Without his genius and his relentless work ethic, we most definitely would not be here, joined together by our mutual enjoyment of his brainchild project.**

**He leaves a huge legacy behind, one that inspires me to be a better content creator and person in general, and I hope he inspires you to do so as well.**

**With his passing still fresh on our minds, I am putting Ten Little Hunters on an indefinite hiatus. As much as I realize the content we make will help us get through hard times like these, and that he would only want us to keep on creating, I do not have it in me to write anymore about death or killing. At least not anytime soon.**

**I will focus solely on the much lighter Blake and Jaune's Infinite Playlist for the time being.**

**The current survey will continue as planned until its designated closing time at 7:30PM Central Time Tuesday evening.**

**The plot of TLH has already been planned out, so when (rather, if) I return to this project, please be mindful that the series will most likely not change plot-wise.**

**So as I close the door to TLH for now, my heart is heavy, and I think I've cried all that I could possibly cry. But... I'm also happy. Incredibly happy to have been a part of Monty's world, as a fan, however small that may be. More importantly, I am happy that he was ever here at all.**

**Thank you Monty. You will be missed dearly.**

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><p><strong>Much love to you all,<strong>

**Uhh_ICanExplain**

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><p><strong>**

* * *

><p><em><strong>NOTICE PART 2<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>**

* * *

><p><strong>Hello everyone.<strong>

**If you're following Blake and Jaune's Infinite Playlist, you may notice that it's beginning to draw to a close, which means I'll have room to work on other projects. And in between then and now, I realized how much I want to continue this fic, so as you can expect... TLH will be making a triumphant return on MARCH 10TH.**

* * *

><p><strong>I'm also posting this notice because I want to redo the polls. I may have fucked up on the rules, so I'll give a whole run through in just a second.<strong>

**One of the key rules that I had forgotten to add was that a weapon can only be in contention as a murder weapon_ if it has been mentioned in any of the chapters prior to the survey_ (except for the weapon that kills the murderer).This piece of advice should be helpful in being able to define what you can and cannot use instead of randomly guessing weapons.**

* * *

><p><strong>A quick rehash of the rules, if you need them:<strong>

**1. This mystery uses everything as clues, from RWBY lore, to other popular fanfics, to mythology that the characters are based on, to even some external references that you may get from finding some of those hidden Easter eggs in the story. Use all of these to your advantage.**

**2. RED HERRINGS EXIST. If the clues just seem way too simple, then it's probably not the right one. Just like the killer doesn't come forward to say "I did it," the clues will not just blatantly say who dies next. Make your judgement calls at your own risk.**

**3. For every couplet, the first line is insignificant. The second line of each pair is what you should worry about.**

**4. Again,**** a weapon can only be in contention as a murder weapon_ if it has been mentioned in any of the chapters prior to the survey_ (except for the weapon that kills the murderer).**

**5. ****You will have up until Tuesday, MARCH 10TH at 7:30PM Central Time to submit your guesses; past then they will NOT be accepted.**

**6. And of course, PRIZES! (that's what you're here for, right?) Every week, a random winning guess will be picked to win a prize - I will write a one-shot prompt of your choice in the realm of RWBY! ... Yeah, I guess I could've had better prizes, but I'm a broke college kid, so I make do with what I got. (DISCLAIMER: I do not do smut.)**

**However, the person who makes the most correct guesses over the span of the entire mystery will win a grand prize! I'm not quite sure what it will be, but I think at this point, it's a few posters that I've made in the past for RT that never got taken or maybe a game on Steam. So even if you didn't get this weeks guesses right, just keep doing the surveys every week and you could win something that's actually substantial and costs me money!**

**7. Lastly, YOU MUST HAVE A REDDIT OR FANFICTION (and now, Tumblr as well) USERNAME TO BE PICKED FOR A PRIZE.**

* * *

><p><strong>If you already submitted a survey, PLEASE SUBMIT A NEW ONE; I'd like to give everyone the same advantages, and ONLY THIS TIME WILL THE SURVIVOR AND MURDERER BE GUESSED. <strong>

**I do have to say, a surprising amount of you picked the right subsequent victim and murderer, so props to you on that. If you're confident in your answers, then by all means, put in those same answers.**

**Now that that's settled, _the link to the survey will once again be on my profile page!_ See you in two weeks!**

(If you're having problems finding the link on my profile page, backspace on my username in the url and enter the remaining address)


	4. AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT

**Drumroll please!**

**I am happy to announce the triumphant return of Ten Little Hunters! It's been hard to pick this up writing TLH again after Monty's passing, but it would be foolhardy to completely leave this project entirely.**

**The winner shall be announced at the end of the chapter, but first, dust off your old detective caps, because you've got some more sleuthing to do!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2: AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT<strong>

* * *

><p>Jaune stumbled his way through the dark hallway. The lights were inaccessible in this section of the academy, and there were not nearly enough windows to provide practical moonlight to navigate the unfamiliar hall, wherever the hell he was. Jaune tried his best to carefully traverse the shady building, but, with his luck, ran into wall after wall after goddamn wall. His annoyance with himself was only outweighed by the fear that he had pertaining to the current state of affairs.<p>

"At this point I'm not even gonna be surprised if I'm next to die," Jaune grunted, as he ran smack into a pillar. "Owwwww… I'm making this way too easy…"

It wasn't long before he tripped and fell right on his face.

The first thing he noticed was the soft, comfortable texture of the carpet below him. He grasped at it; it felt cool to the touch. Jaune sighed. Perhaps it was an inappropriate time, but he'd never given much thought to the carpet before. He didn't mind lying there, prone to whatever attacks may befall. In fact, if this was his way to go, then this would be a great way to do it – comfortable, unaware, blissfully ignorant of the cold-blooded killer coming to get him…

"No!" Jaune shot up with renewed vigor. "I can't just give up like that! My friends are in danger, and here I am thinking of just kicking back and waiting to be killed. I can't- no. I _won't_ be a burden. Not while I'm still alive!" And with that, he climbed to his feet, Crocea Mors at the ready.

And at that very moment, a tiny light came into view from much farther down the hall.

Jaune's blood ran cold. Could that be it? Could that be the killer? They were still a long ways away from him. He most definitely had time to find a hiding spot. But… should he?

The blonde boy's grip tightened on his sword and shield. "No," he whispered to himself. "I'm gonna tackle this problem head-on." He slowly crept forward, cautious but intrigued. Who could it possibly be?

The light was coming closer. Jaune's heart thumped rapidly in his chest and he could almost hear it. He led with his shield and cocked his arm back, ready for anything. He could even make out the form of the person behind the light. Closer and closer they came-

And he tripped. Again.

Jaune hit the floor with an audible grunt and instantly froze at the sound. His breathing was absolutely still, and now he could hear the approaching footsteps. _Click. Clack. Click. Clack. Click. Clack. CLICK. CLACK._

And then they stopped.

He saw the boots first, planted firmly adjacent to his face. Slowly and shakily, he turned his body to face the now blindingly bright light, which joined at the end of a torch. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he was finally able to perceive the hand holding the torch, the flame-red xiphos that rested loosely in the figure's other hand, and the gentle, concerned emerald eyes behind them.

"Jaune?"

* * *

><p>The dark hallways weren't particularly harrowing for at least one member of the remaining nine.<p>

Blake wandered through a different section of the colossal academy in complete darkness, not that it was a problem at all to her. In fact, she quite preferred it that way. She'd be alerted if anyone was in the vicinity due to their necessity of light to see by. In fact, to her knowledge, the only other person who could traverse complete darkness was-

Blake shuddered. Sun was dead.

She leaned against the nearest wall and slid down into a sitting position. The whole situation seemed like a really bad joke, and Blake couldn't help but wonder if she was dreaming. Maybe Sun wasn't dead. Maybe if only she woke up, Sun would be right there with that big, stupid grin of his and everything would be alright.

Suddenly, the lights turned on.

Blake squinted as her eyes readjusted to the abrupt presence of light. Someone had snuck up on her and she hadn't noticed their presence, which made her hair stand on end. Was it the killer? Jumping to her feet she, she began to reach for-

Oh right. She didn't have Gambol Shroud on her.

The faunus girl spun on her feet, warily observing her surroundings. "Show yourself, be you friend or foe!" she shouted, trying to feel braver than she was. Her heart was beating out of her chest, and she was afraid that whoever had happened on her could hear it thumping.

"Take it easy, Blake," a cheery voice rang out, and Blake swiftly turned to see Yang emerging from the shadows. "It's just me."

"Oh. Thank God," said Blake in relief, still poised for attack.

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Hold on. You don't think I'm the killer?"

"No," Blake still kept her distance. "If it were you, you'd just punch a guy to death. I don't think you have the patience for poison."

Grinning, Yang replied, "Well, I won't argue with that."

Blake started to let her guard down. "How do you know _I'm _not the killer?"

"Because you're my partner!" Yang beamed. "I trust you. A lot. So call it a hunch, but I don't think you're the killer."

Blake smiled. This was indeed the Yang she knew. "Alright. Fair enough."

Yang walked over and squeezed Blake into a giant bear hug. "I'm so glad you're still alive."

Blake hesitated, still a bit wary, then returned the hug. "Same goes for you. I'm still having trouble registering that Sun is… gone."

Yang smiled sadly. "He was a great guy, if just a bit of idiot. You know that the most out of all of us. The most we can do now is find his killer and prevent anyone else from getting killed."

"Right."

The two broke contact. Blake steeled herself despite her coursing emotions. "What I wouldn't do for a weapon right about now," she joked weakly.

Yang laughed. "Yeah, you've got a bit of a disadvantage right about now. You know what I could use?" Yang stretched. "A nice, warm bath. It'd be great to take my mind off things for moment and clear my head."

"Now's probably not the best time for that," chided Blake. "It would be a bit foolish to relax now when a killer's on the loose."

Yang sighed. "I suppose you're right. Well, where are you heading off to?"

Blake shrugged. "My first priority is finding a weapon. I'm a bit useless against an intuitive serial killer, except maybe for hiding."

"Sounds great," exclaimed Yang. "I'll go with you!"

"NO!" yelled Blake suddenly, surprising Yang. "I mean… no. We have to go our separate ways. If we go separately, the killer will have to work harder to find the both of us, but if we go together, we'll just be lined up like sheep to slaughter. I'm sorry Yang, but... I think this is the best way forward."

Yang seemed hurt for a moment, but then gave Blake a reassuring, albeit saddened, smile. "I understand. It makes sense. I just don't want to see any more of my friends killed, that's all. Especially not you." Yang's expression was uncharacteristically somber. "I think Professor Port had some Grimm traps lying around his classroom, so I'll go see if I can use those. In the meantime, I think there's a fire extinguisher near the commons. I know it's not much, but knowing you, I think you might be able to use it somehow."

Blake nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Stay safe, Yang."

"You too," intoned Yang as she began to walk off. "Oh, and if you manage to find the killer before I do… beat the ever-loving shit outta 'em for me, okay?" The spark of determination manifested Yang's eyes once more.

Blake smiled. "I will."

With that, they set off in opposite directions.

* * *

><p>"Pyrrha?"<p>

Jaune stared at the redhead towering over him. With her xiphos drawn, she was indeed a menacing sight to behold, but her eyes were wrought with concern.

Jaune laughed nervously. "You're not about to kill me, are you?"

"W-what? NO!" Pyrrha jumped back, flushed in the face. "Jaune. I'm not the killer. You believe me, right?"

"Y-yeah. It's just that people don't tend to think straight when someone holding a sword is standing over them and a killer is on the loose." Jaune paused for a moment, then reached his arm out with his pinky extended. "Pinky promise."

Pyrrha giggled and wrapped her own pinky around his. "Pinky promise. Here," she grunted, lifting Jaune back on his feet. "Have you seen anyone else?"

"No, just you," responded Jaune. "You?"

Pyrrha shrugged. "No. Just you."

Jaune nodded slowly. "I… guess that's good?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Pyrrha smiled. "I was wondering, since getting out isn't an option at this point, if you wanted to go off together and see if we can find the killer?"

"You sure you want me along?" Jaune muttered dejectedly. "I don't wanna be the reason you get killed…"

"Jaune," Pyrrha reached a hand for Jaune's shoulder and squeezed. "You're a very capable fighter. I couldn't think of anyone better to guard my back than you."

"You really mean it?"

"With all my heart."

The blonde boy took a deep breath. "Alright," he conceded. "If it's me you need, I'll be here for you."

Pyrrha beamed at him. "Thank you, Jaune." She turned and pointed her torch around. "Now, the question stands: which way should we go?"

"Well…" Jaune observed the lit surroundings. "I came from this way… and you came from there… how about we go down here?" He pointed at an intersecting hallway between the previous two directions.

"I suppose it's something to work with!" With a beckoning of her arm, Pyrrha set off in the unfamiliar hallway, with Jaune in tow.

They walked in silence for a while, looking out for any sudden movements or traps that happened to be lying around. Pyrrha would glance anxiously back every once in a while to make sure Jaune was still okay, and he would return her worried look with an equally uneasy smile. There were so many things that she wanted to say to him, to ask him, but every time she tried to open her mouth, no words would come out, which frustrated her to no end. It only made sense that they were both on edge, but Pyrrha thought that if the killer didn't come and murder her right then and there, then the uncomfortable silence between her and Jaune would end up killing her first.

Eventually, Jaune piped up. "You know, this situation actually feels really familiar."

"How do you mean?"

"You mean you don't see it?" Jaune chuckled. "You and me, and a torch, heading into certain doom? Although of course, it's you holding the torch this time and not me."

Pyrrha paused for a moment and looked at the torch in her hand. "You're right," she murmured softly. "Just like when it was you and me against the Emerald Forest."

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess it wasn't one of my finer moments," grumbled Jaune. "Getting tossed by a Death Stalker does not rank high on my list of 'pleasant experiences.' It was more like you _minus_ me against the Emerald Forest…"

Pyrrha laughed, partially at Jaune's silliness, but also in relief. She would probably never admit it - but she was afraid. Listening to Jaune being his usual talkative self as he regaled of days past gave her the chance to be at ease – even if only for a little while.

* * *

><p>Ren wandered through the unnervingly empty commons, with StormFlower in both hands. Usually the large room would be filled with students eating breakfast, lunch, or dinner, talking about how difficult the last class's homework was or gossiping about the successes of the latest missions.<p>

But now only silence befell the commons, one that even made the usually quiet Ren perturbed. He scanned the room and its white-washed walls, its clean floors, its immaculate tables, searching for maybe anything that could help him find-

Ren squinted.

Sitting on one of the tables was a single milkshake.

Slowly, Ren made his way towards it, suspicious of anything that may take advantage of his drawn attention. He reached the milkshake with no trouble, looked around – and sat down on the seat in front of it.

He examined the milkshake. It was spectacularly unremarkable.

Ren lifted the cup to see if there was anything underneath. No cigar.

He set down the milkshake, puzzled. If this was a ruse, it had indeed gotten Ren's attention. Who would be either bold enough or stupid enough to set a trap with a milkshake?

Suddenly, Ren heard a voice.

"You have a milkshake."

Ren peered. Several tables down, he could make out a head of orange hair and turquoise eyes.

He sighed. Of course.

The head grinned.

"And I have a straw."

Nora shifted a moment then pulled out what was indeed a straw.

"There it is, that's a straw, you see? Watch it."

The straw began to inch forward from her position towards Ren. He shook his head at her shenanigans.

"Nora…" he began.

"Now, my straw reaches acroooooooss the room…"

The straw had grown to a ridiculous length (to Ren's surprise) and now hung precariously over the milkshake, in the same way that bricks don't.

"Nora."

"… and starts to drink your milkshake!" The impossibly enormous straw breached the creamy surface of the milkshake.

"Nora…"

"I… drink…"

"_Nora…_"

"… your… MILKSHAKE! _Sluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurp_!"

"NORA!"

A pause. "I don't drink your milkshake?"

Ren sighed. "Nora… what are you doing?" he inquired patiently. "And dare I ask, where did you get a straw that big?"

Nora grinned as she popped out from her hiding spot and danced her way to the dark-haired boy. "You'll never believe what kind of things I found in the kitchen! First of all, we have a milkshake dispenser! ALL THIS TIME AND WE NEVER KNEW! Aaaaaaand there's a ketchup gun, and a mustard gun, and a mayonnaise gun – that one's actually kinda gross – but just imagine what kind of epic food fights we could have! It could be sooooooo awesome!" she sang.

Ren's patience was absolute. "Nora, you _do_ know that there's a killer around, right? It might not be the best idea to just go rummaging through the school kitchen like this."

"I… I know, Ren," Nora flopped down in the seat next to Ren, the mirthfulness gone from her face. "It's just that… well… I'm scared, Ren. Someone is out to get us all, and all I can think of is how much I wished this was all over."

She shuddered. "The fact of the matter is, one of us is already gone, and I don't want to come out of here and see all my friends… dead. I couldn't take it. Picturing Sun's body makes me want to…" she trailed off. "I can't. I think… I think I'm just gonna stay here and lay low. For now."

Ren cupped Nora's cheek. "I understand. I think that's a great idea, too. With all these tables and those things you found in the kitchen, I think you could set up a pretty solid stronghold here."

Nora perked up. "You… you think so?"

Ren smiled. "Of course I do. I haven't ever seen any obstacle stop you before."

"Yeah!" Nora smiled back. "Oh, I'll make the best fort you've ever seen, Ren! In fact, it'll be an impenetrable castle, and no one will be able to get past my defense!"

"And you can be the queen," assured Ren, patting Nora on the head.

"The queen of the castle?"

"Yes. You're the queen of the castle."

Nora beamed. "I'd make a great queen." She grew somber again. "What about you? Are you gonna stay and help."

Ren hung his head. "No. I'm afraid not. After all, my queen doesn't want to find her friends dead, so I think I should go out and bring them back to the castle."

Grinning, Nora exclaimed, "I think that's a wonderful idea! I'll start building the castle, and you can bring back our friends safe and sound!"

Ren nodded, and started to walk out of the commons.

"Oh!" Nora called, causing Ren to pause briefly. "Ren… please promise me that you'll come back safely."

Ren glanced at his uncharacteristically serious best friend.

"I promise."

* * *

><p>Although he had visited the academy many times, Neptune couldn't really say that he was familiar with the layout of the school.<p>

In fact, was lost.

If "loster" was a word, it would describe Neptune very accurately in comparison to the other eight hunters roaming around Beacon.

If "lostest" was a word, it would probably be more befitting of a title for the one fly that accidentally flies into a plane with an overseas flight, remains stuck in the plane for the entire duration of the flight, and emerges from the plane some thirty-odd hours later utterly dazed and confused while on the exact opposite side of the planet, only to be eaten by a voracious and absolutely apathetic lizard before the fly can even make sense of its whereabouts. But Neptune came in at a fairly close second.

Regardless, Neptune walked. There was nothing else he could really do.

His number one priority at this point was finding Weiss. In her inebriated state, it was likely for her to be likely prey for the killer, not to mention that she didn't have a weapon either.

"Dammit," muttered Neptune, walking cautiously through the school. "I need to find a weapon, too."

Luckily enough, he soon got his lucky break.

The lights were functional all the way down the hall he was in, and illuminated a room that Neptune was, contrary to popular belief, very familiar with.

"The combat arenas!" Neptune exclaimed. "Finally, something to work with. There should be weapons nearby."

He headed into the storage room next to it to look for potential weapons to use. He rummaged past some practice weapons, a few training robots, a few combat monitors, but nothing to Neptune's liking.

"I can't work with this stuff," he grumbled. "It's got no form of elegance! I might as well be waving a dead twig around, and I'm not going out like a pleb!"

He wrestled past the clutter, reaching the back of the room – and his blood ran cold.

Only a lone training dummy stood in the open back area of the room. Tied firmly to the dummy, to Neptune's horror, was a barely conscious Weiss.

"Weiss!" Without a second thought, Neptune rushed over towards the immobile girl and struggled to untie the ropes binding her to the dummy. "Hold on, Weiss," he whispered softly. "I'm gonna get you out of here."

Weiss slowly opened her eyes. "Neptune…?" she mumbled, her voice dry and cracking from disuse. "Wha… what are you… how did I get here? Why am I tied up?"

"Shhhh," Neptune placed a finger to her lips. "Just relax, and we'll figure this out together."

"Neptune…" she groaned. Little alcohol remained in her system at this point, and soon she was just short of alertness. "You… you came for me."

Neptune smiled. "Yeah. Of course I'd come back for you, snow angel."

Weiss giggled. "Shush, you." Her expression grew serious. "What happened since… since I was out, I suppose?"

"Nothing much." Neptune grunted with an effort, as the ropes were proving much more difficult to work with than he had anticipated. "The killer's still loose, and most everyone's probably alive – for the time being."

"Oh." Weiss straightened up. "Then we must get out of here as soon as we can. We must go find any open exits we can."

Neptune raised an eyebrow. "What about the plan to track down the killer?"

Weiss looked him straight in the eye. "That plan has been rendered obsolete, now that we are all spread out. If we encounter anyone along the way, we can help out as much as we possibly can, but I truly believe we'll be the most help if we can contact authorities. We are not as effective as we can be, currently. Neither of us have weapons, so I refuse to be killed when I know that I had the chance to do something smart." She lifted her chin regally. "It would be foolhardy of us to charge the killer unarmed."

"That makes sense," Neptune mused. "Aha!" He pulled the ropes away triumphantly at last.

Weiss groaned and rubbed her arms, trying to send the blood and feeling back into them. "Thank you, Neptune. I owe you my life."

Neptune chuckled. "Let's get out of here first so that it doesn't go to waste." Weiss shot him a glare. "Sorry. That was in bad taste, wasn't it?"

"Very."

"Alright," Neptune sighed. "You go on ahead; we can't stay still for long with a killer after us. I'll try to find a weapon here and catch up with you."

Weiss shook her head indignantly. "No! I'm not leaving you behind."

Neptune grabbed her shoulders firmly. "You have to. One of us has to make it out alive. This betters our chance. Listen, if I don't catch up to you in the next ten minutes, just know that I… just get yourself out alive, okay?"

"No…" Tears began to fall down Weiss's face, her eyes widening at Neptune's words. "Why would you say that…"

"You said it yourself. No sense in being stupid. I… I love you, Weiss. Please. Make it out alive. For me. Now go."

"But-"

"_Go._"

Weiss took the hint of tenseness in Neptune's voice. She nodded faintly.

"I love you, too."

And she ran out of the room.

Neptune watched her go. He sat in the same spot for a few minutes. Then he began to speak aloud.

"Weiss is still a little buzzed. She didn't see you come in." Neptune turned. "But I did."

He sighed. "Although I suppose wonder why you let her go?"

Silence.

"I guess you have some mercy in you after all. At least Weiss will be safe now."

Neptune smiled. "That's all I need to know. Thank you."

He heard a click, and slowly the barrel of Gambol Shroud's pistol form came into view as it came to a stop right between Neptune's eyes.

_BANG!_

The assailant wiped the weapon's smoking barrel, before stepping over the slumped body as it rapidly submerged in the growing pool of blood, and exited the room.

* * *

><p><em><strong>One died for their lover and then there were eight.<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>So, did you think it was gonna be who it was gonna be being killed by what you thought was gonna kill them?<strong>

**If you didn't (or if you think your survivor and killer weren't who you thought they were) don't fret! You've still got plenty of chances to win meager ol' fanfic prompts from me... okay, that doesn't sound quite as good spoken aloud. But every now and again, I'll try my best to throw in a more substantial prize, so be on the lookout for that!**

**The following person wins a fanfic written by me to whatever parameters he or she would like (remember, no smut):**

**captinmet! Congratulations for being the only person to guess the correct victim AND weapon! I'll PM you for your prompt and such, so check your reddit mail!**

**Almost half of you guessed the correct victim, so good job on that! In contrast, only 10 percent of everyone guessed the right murder weapon, which is understandable - you didn't have a lot to go on for that.**

**Just a little word of advice, a lot of people seem to think that it's entirely possible for the killer, survivor, and next victim to be all the same person. I'm not sure how you came up with that, but be aware that every single role is played out by a different person. There are 10 roles, and there are (or were) 10 participants. It should line up quite nicely that way.**

**Also, in case you missed it in the notice, I mentioned that a weapon can only be a viable answer if it has been mentioned prior to chapter's killing. That should help narrow down your list of weapons to chose from.**

**Lastly, I've opened up the surveys to accept Tumblr usernames as well, in case that's more convenient for you.**

**The next case should be a little bit easier, at least in my opinion.**

_**To refresh on the rules, check the Notice 2 in the chapters.**_

_**To refresh on the riddle, participants, and weapons, check the Riddle in the chapters.**_

_**To take up the next survey, click the link on my profile!**_

**Get crackin'!**


	5. AND THEN THERE WERE SEVEN

**Welcome back to another exciting installment of TLH!**

**I apologize for the tardiness. I've had a lot of projects I've been working on recently, not to mention that I ran into quite the writer's block for this chapter.**

**But anyways, let's get going, shall we?**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3: AND THEN THERE WERE SEVEN<strong>

* * *

><p>The phrase "as quiet as a mouse" originated in the early sixteenth century. Mice are quite the quiet creatures, and most usually, their activities are unknown to the people whose properties they reside in until it is far too late. Plagues came and went with mice, as their quietness allowed them to sneak in places you would least expect them to be. Some scholars even say that if there ever were such a creature as a mouse Grimm, the whole of Remnant would be royally fucked.<p>

Another common, although more obsolete, variation of this phrase is "as quiet as a church mouse." One could assume that this was because the churches of old were usually very quiet places and that to even think about escaping the sermons without drawing attention, or even the presence of God, you'd probably have to be a church mouse. With time, however, this variation became more and more unused due to the remarkably discreet conversion of church mice to Christianity in the late eighteenth century, and with the introduction of the modern form of church and worship, church mice can now be seen participating actively in gospel choirs.

Most of these thoughts did not cross Ruby's mind as she tiptoed down the halls of Beacon, except probably the part about being quiet as a mouse.

She was not particularly good at it, if you were wondering.

"Aha!" exclaimed Ruby, as she opened the nearest classroom door, scythe in hand, ready for an attacker to come flailing out of the room.

As expected, there was no one there.

It is, however, amusing to entertain the thought that, had the killer actually been hiding in this particular room, and Ruby had killed him or her, this story would have ended about as abruptly as The Sopranos did.

But alas, we continue.

"Well, crap," sighed Ruby.

A brief examination of the room revealed a maze of standing mirrors, arranged with no rhyme or reason to placement.

"Oooooh," marveled Ruby. "This must be that second-year training exercise Velvet was talking about."

She slowly closed the door and turned…

… only to catch her cape in the door hinges.

"Well…" Ruby groaned, attempting to wrench free her signature article of cloth. "Crap… again."

Of course, that only served to get Ruby's cape even more tangled in the hinges.

It is a fairly common occurrence for one to run into even more and more trouble the more of a hurry that they are in, and seeing as Ruby was in very much a hurry to find and apprehend a murderer, it was only natural that such misfortune fell upon her.

After about five minutes of struggling, Ruby panted and observed her surroundings in hope that something – or someone nearby could help her.

Her saving grace came in the form of a very amused looking Lie Ren.

"Need a little help there, Ruby?"

"No!" pouted Ruby, indignant of the smirk that currently occupied Ren's face. "Maybe… yeah, I kinda need help…"

"Thought so." With that, Ren pulled out one of his StormFlowers and set it against a section of Ruby's cape.

This did not go over well with the redhead.

"_WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"_

Ren jumped in surprise at Ruby's outburst. "Uh… cutting you loose?"

"Butbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbutbut…" Ruby was almost whimpering at this point.

The dark-haired hunter's brow furrowed. "But… what?"

"My… cape…" Ruby moaned.

Ren blinked.

"You can't be serious."

Ruby continued to give him her best puppy dog eyes.

"… Wow. You _are_ serious." Ren pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Please don't cut the cape," Ruby begged.

The dark-haired hunter sighed. "You _know_ that it's only just going to get caught in things over and over again, right?"

"No it won't!"

"Right… how the hell did it get stuck in a door hinge, out of all things?"

Ruby grumbled. "Things… happen. Don't judge me… please."

Ren couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry about it. I'm much more worried about finding this killer and stopping him or her before they can kill anyone else."

He paused for a moment. "So… you _sure_ you don't want me to cut your cape off?"

Ruby sniffed. "Not if you can avoid it."

"Alright."

And with that, Ren got to work. The more he tried to unfurl the cape from the door's clutches, the more he realized how absurdly tight the cloak was wound up in the hinges.

After a good five minutes of struggling from the both of them, Ren finally yanked Ruby's cloak free, and they tumbled to the floor, heaving from the effort.

"That was… a lot harder… than I thought it would be," breathed Ren.

"Told you so," muttered Ruby. She climbed to her feet. "Alright, where to now?"

"Well…" Ren got up as well and brushed himself off. "I'm going to go after the killer. I can't tell you what to do, but Nora's setting up a fort in the commons, so that might be a good place for you to head."

"A… fort?" Ruby frowned, puzzled. "Like a pillow fort?"

"… Yes. Because the commons is full of pillows."

"Oh… right. Silly me," Ruby laughed nervously. "I guess I'll head over there, then! See ya later, Ren!"

Ren smiled in return. "See you, Ruby."

They both headed off in opposite directions.

* * *

><p>"Well… guess I'm just… 'Yanging' out by myself!"<p>

Yang's audience of no one gave her pun the proper response of silence.

She sighed. "Guess they can't all be winners," she murmured morosely.

Yang wandered down the halls lugging around a few razor-sharp foot traps with the intention of placing them around the school and hopefully trapping a cold-blooded killer successfully.

Up ahead, the commons loomed in the background.

"Ah!" she exclaimed. "Perfect trapping grounds."

As the view of the large eating area became clearer, however, Yang's jaw dropped, and for good reason, too.

Standing up against the back wall was an enormous and rather sturdy-looking fort made of tables, chairs, and other large kitchen appliances. The fort barely touched the commons' high ceiling, and it was as wide as it was tall, enough to fit a small platoon of soldiers, if need be.

In short, it looked like if Frank Lloyd Wright decided put his own spin on recreating the Taj Mahal with only materials he had found in the dumpster.

Which, in its own right, is a pretty fucking impressive image.

Yang whistled.

"Whoever built this must've had a lot of… fortitude," she murmured.

Crickets chirped almost unwillingly in the background.

Yang groaned. "This is so much better when people are actually around to hear my puns…"

As if on cue, a large glass bowl with the concave side facing outward rose from the middle tier of the fort, and a large, magnified grinning face appeared on the surface of the bowl.

"WHO APPROACHES THE CASTLE OF QUEEN NORA?" boomed the face.

Yang blinked.

"You really took this 'queen of the castle' thing to the next level, huh Nora?" she mused.

"INCONCEIVABLE! THAT IS 'QUEEN NORA' TO THEE!"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Nora, it's just me, Yang."

Nora shrugged from behind the glass bowl. "Well, what if you're the killer?" Her eyes widened. "Uh… I mean… INCONCEIVABLE! WHAT IF THOU ART THE KILLER? THOU MUST PROVE THEE WORTHY OF QUEEN NORA."

"'Worthy,' huh?" Yang grinned. "Sounds like a challenge if you ask me!"

With that, she began to scale the wall of tables.

In all reasonability, Nora began to panic. "W-wait, what are doing? Uh, I mean… INCONCEIVABLE!"

Yang continued her ascent upward, a manic grin painted on her face.

"Uh… TAKE THAT, FOUL HEATHEN!" Nora squatted down to kick out the chair that Yang was currently grasping on to.

She lost her grip for a slight moment, but with her quick reflexes, immediately reached out to the closest table and hung on tightly to steady herself.

Nora squinted. "She didn't fall? INCONCEIVABLE!"

"You keep saying that word," Yang retorted back. "I don't think it means what you think it means."

Nora growled. "You stay away, maybe-or-maybe-not killer!"

Yang sighed. "Look, Nora, I promise I'm not the killer. I'm obviously not a sneaky person, so I don't have the tenacity to stab all these people –" She winced. "- my… _friends_… behind their backs. I couldn't. I _wouldn't_."

Nora hesitated, dropping the 'queen' visage for a moment. "I… guess I can understand. I mean, I couldn't pull that kind of thing off either. Plus, look at me now! I'm just… hiding. Ain't that pathetic…?"

The blonde offered an assuring smile. "I think it's a brilliant idea, Nora. Really! It's a pretty impressive fort, I think!"

"Maybe…" Nora returned the smile coyly. "Thanks, Yang."

"Sure!" Yang beamed, then, with raised eyebrow, "Does that mean… the tables have turned?"

"The tables have…? Oh, the tables!" Yang could literally see the lightbulb turn on in the ginger's eyes. "I get it!"

"Finally!" Yang sighed in relief. "It's awesome to have feedback for once. Hey listen, I got all these foot traps from Port's classroom, and I think they would make a great defensive barrier for the fort. There's definitely more from where that came from, so I can go back and get them. What say you?"

Nora grinned brightly. "Now _that_ is a brilliant idea!"

She cleared her throat resumed her façade of royalty. "Yang, I hereby pronounce thee chief knight of Fort Nora! Now fetch me these trap thou speaketh of!"

And in a flash, she disappeared back into the fort.

"Wait wait wait, chief what?"

Yang blinked.

"Did I just climb this entire way up the fort just to be made into an errand girl?" she murmured under her breath. "Maybe I should usurp this weird-ass kingdom…"

She sighed. "But first things first! More traps!"

Yang jumped and landed carefully on her feet before setting out once more into the darkness of Beacon.

* * *

><p>Blake peeked around the corner, her ears twitching.<p>

Nothing.

"Okay…" she murmured to herself, and the cat faunus creeped from out of her hiding spot… brandishing a fire extinguisher.

Sure, it definitely wasn't the best weapon to combat a serial killer, especially considering that Blake found bashing anyone over the head was probably the most barbaric form of combat ever – _don't tell Yang that_ – but it would simply have to do. It certainly helped that the extinguisher was dust-based.

Blake made a mental note to test exactly what kind of dust the extinguisher consisted of on something. Preferably not on herself.

As she tip-toed through the dimly lit hall, she ran the possibilities of the possible types of dust that could "legally" be placed in a fire extinguisher designated for school use. The first and most basic dust that came to mind was ice dust, although Blake quickly dismissed it due to the bulky residue left behind by the ice crystals that sprouted upon use. Dust ice melted rather slowly, and it was a bitch to clean otherwise – being teammates with Weiss definitely taught her that.

The second dust that came to mind was sediment dust, which seemed even less proficient than a simple bucket of water. In fact, that was usually the process most people went through upon killing fires with a sediment dust extinguisher: attempting to use it to smother the fire, failing spectacularly, resorting to buckets of water until the job was done, and finally returning to the store of purchase and beating the unfortunate cashier who just happened to be on shift over the head with the obsolete extinguisher until death. Of course, such situations were vaguely described in the warning label, but nobody ever reads the fine print.

The third option – and perhaps the most ridiculously dangerous (and arguably most effective) – was the air-based concussive dust, which, upon use, released a strong shockwave that hit with the force of about ten airbags. Of course, the law of equal and opposite reactions still applied, much to the chagrin of its customers, who suddenly found themselves lying in the neighbor's front lawn after extinguishing a mere stove fire, but in all fairness, it was quick, efficient, and it got the job done.

Blake sighed. Knowing the headmaster's eccentricities, the extinguisher was probably the third option.

Suddenly, she heard movement.

It sounded like running.

Blake readied the extinguisher and hugged closely to the wall, walking as slowly and noiselessly as possible.

The footsteps came closer.

Blake took a deep breath in.

Closer still.

Breathe out. Blake looked at the extinguisher. It was now or never.

Even close – oh wait, the running was coming from behind her.

Blake turned around swiftly – and came face-to-face with and very flustered Weiss.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

They both yelped in surprise, and in her panic, Blake accidentally pressed the extinguisher's trigger.

_KABOOOOOM!_

For a moment, Weiss stood in front of her, a look of shock on her face; the next moment, all Blake could see was the ceiling as she felt herself getting launched a good thirty feet away from the blast zone.

This was going to hurt.

"Ooooof!" she grunted as she skidded across the hall floor, tumbling ungracefully to a stop. On the other end of the hall, she could hear Weiss do the same.

They both lay motionless for a few seconds, desperately trying to regain the air that had been knocked out of them. Then, before Blake could, apologize, Weiss scrambled to her feet and started to do what Weiss did best.

"YOU MORON!" Weiss seethed, pointing an accusing finger at Blake. "There's a killer on the loose and you decide to be reckless and go all willy-nilly with that stupid oversized dust canister!? What is _wrong_ with you!?"

"Weiss, I'm sorry…" Blake mumbled, but the heiress wasn't having it.

"And _you_, out of all people! I expected better from you, Blake!" Weiss crossed her arms condescendingly. "I can't believe you could be so _stupid…_ oh."

A look of realization dawned on her face.

"Wait a minute… it's YOU! You're the killer!" Weiss screamed angrily. "I should've known all along…"

"NO, _what!?_" It was Blake's turn to be indignant, as she climbed to her feet and swiftly approached the heiress. "I'm not the killer! Why would I even remotely _want_ to do anything as horrible as this?"

Weiss's eyes narrowed, pointing at the cat faunus once more. "_You're_ the only one who's been part of an extremist terrorist group! I see it now… your old ways have finally caught up to you. You've already killed two of us and here you were trying to kill me too!"

"Weiss, that's crazy talk and you know it!" growled Blake. "I would never do any such – wait." She blinked, trying to process what Weiss had just said. "What do you mean, 'already killed two of us?'"

The heiress grew significantly somber, and her head hung low.

"Neptune… he told me… that if he didn't come back for me in ten minutes… he said to just keep running, to get help." She looked up at Blake, and although her face retained its angry edge, tears had started to stream down her face. "It's been thirty minutes. Thirty. Fucking. Minutes!" She choked out the last word behind her sobs.

Blake tried to reach out and comfort her. "Weiss… I didn't know. I'm so sorry –"

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" screamed the heiress, backing away.

Blake recoiled. "Weiss…?"

The heiress's vitriol had returned in full force. "I don't have my weapon with me right now, because if I did, I would cut you down like the filthy fucking animal that you are! But once I get out of here, I will call the authorities, and they will arrest you for killing my friends, and they will lock you up in a cage far away from us all, _where you belong."_

The animalistic insults were not lost on Blake, and hairs on her neck bristled. "Weiss! Stop spewing all this bullshit! You can't just –"

"Oh, I can and I will!" Weiss spat darkly. "I'm horrified I let you get as close to me as you did… I should have listened to father all these years ago. 'Once a criminal, always a criminal.' That's who you are, Blake!"

"Weiss, please listen to me –"

"NO! We're done here, you and I."

With that, Weiss walked off in the opposite direction, leaving Blake to stand in the hallway alone with the heiress's biting words ringing in her head.

"_Once a criminal, always a criminal…"_

* * *

><p>Yang whistled as she strode down the hall towards Professor Port's classroom. The halls seemed peaceful enough, but you could never be too careful when a serial killer is in the same building as you.<p>

But of course, this was Yang. Yang was not a careful person to begin with.

One thing that she was, though, was cocky.

"Man, that killer's got something fierce coming for 'em. Just wait until I get my hands on those traps for our little cat-and-mouse game…"

Speaking of mice…

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNGGGGG!"

The blonde saw a blur or red rose petals, and next thing she knew, Ruby was locked in deep embrace with her.

"Ohmygodyangivebeenlookingalloverforyouandnowifinallyfoundyoutheresakilleroutthereandidontknowwhattodoigotmycapestuckanditwassoembarrasingwereyouplayingagamejustnoworsomethingwasitremnantbecauseilltotallykickyouassthistimeiswear –"

"Easy, easy, lil' sis!" laughed Yang, returning the hug. "I'm really glad to see you safe and sound, y'know."

"Same!" Ruby chirped happily. "So… what are you doing right now?"

"Getting some traps from Port's. Nora set up a pretty impressive fortress in the commons, and we're gonna set up our defenses there… after I usurp the queen, but that's just all in a day's work!" Yang grinned.

"Oh right! Ren was telling me about that fort," Ruby nodded. "Sounds like a plan! Lemme help out!"

Yang pondered a bit. "There _are _a lot of traps in that room. Sure, c'mon, Rubes!"

"Yay!" cheered the redhead.

They reached Port's room quite shortly afterwards and found the traps stored neatly in the classrooms closet, among a few other Grimm-hunting materials.

"Just what the doctor ordered!" exclaimed Yang happily. "Hey Rubes, I'm gonna check Port's office to see if there's anything of value there. Holler if ya need me, alright?"

"Sure thing, sis!" Ruby beamed.

Yang walked across the hallway to Port's office – and found the door locked.

"Nothing a little firepower couldn't handle," murmured the blonde, and with Ember Celica, she punched a gaping whole into the area where the doorknob used to be.

Pushing the door open, Yang found the usual suspects of items: a desk, all the books and writing utensils that came with a desk, a map of Remnant, several portraits of Port lining the walls – Yang noticed that he seemed more muscular and toned in the paintings than he did in real life – and of course, his prized blunderbuss-axe, Charybdis.

The thing that completely took her by surprise, however, was the hot tub.

Yang blinked.

"Why the hell would anyone keep hot tub in their office, out of all places… no, scratch that, I don't even want to know…" Yang muttered, desperately trying to rid herself of the unfortunate mental images that had formed in her brain.

The more important question that subsequently formed was: "Why is it full?"

It was as if someone had wanted to take a bath, filled it up to the brim with water, and decided to change their mind and walk away.

Yang moved closer towards the tub and peered in.

At the bottom of the tub was a note that simply read, _"I sea you."_

"Oh," Yang chuckled. "That's pretty funny…"

Suddenly, she felt a hand dunk her head into the water.

"Mmmph!" Yang struggled against the force, but it must have been at such a vantage point that Yang's flailing did not come in contact with any flesh at all.

More so, the hand restraining her was not inflicting any particular pain, so her semblance was effectively nullified.

She mistakenly tried to gasp – and instantly filled her lungs with water.

Yang coughed and choked, trying desperately to rid herself of foreign liquids, but water kept rushing in.

She could feel herself becoming weaker as she began to succumb. Her vision became tunneled, her lungs stopped burning, and her thoughts became muddier and muddier.

The last thing she remembered thinking before everything went black was: _"I've got a sinking feeling about this…"_

* * *

><p><em><strong>A light was snuffed out and then there were seven.<strong>_

* * *

><p><strong>Another successful round of TLH in the books! I feel writing got a bit sloppy there near the middle, but we pulled through!<strong>

**We had three people who guessed the correct answers this week. However, we can only have one winner, and after a bit of random shuffling, our victor supreme is… ****scot911!**** Congratulations on winning fanfic prompt from me! I'll contact you in a bit for the details.**

**An overwhelming 50% of you guessed the correct victim, out of the 15 who submitted. However, most of you picked the fire extinguisher over the bathtub. Sometimes it really **_**does**_** come down to luck, but any tip in the right direction can help you make a better guess.**

**This next one's an interesting one. I'm very excited to see what you guys pick.**

_**To refresh on the rules, check the Notice 2 in the chapters.**_

_**To refresh on the riddle, participants, and weapons, check the Riddle in the chapters.**_

_**To take up the next survey, click the link on my profile!**_

**I bid you good luck!**


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